Non Residential option: please ask for recommendations for staying in local B and B if you need a private room. Local people wanting to stay at home but join for meals and activities welcome. Both options £125 including all meals.

All meals included (Sebastian is planning the most amazing, nourishing menu of all plant-based, mostly organic, wholesome and fresh, often raw, food) and extras (ie Jess’s famous vegan cakes!) plus unlimited teas included.

This retreat will run on Gift Economy- see below and for a Youtube vid explaining Gift Economy please click here

option to share a place with a partner/ friend in order to share childcare ( eg attend half the retreat each)

I wanted to offer a retreat that was :

Affordable

Accessible for parents or those who cant take time off work

Inclusive

Based in a beautiful place

Not too far from South Devon

This retreat ticks all those boxes and more! I always dreamed of running it at Chyan, since I discovered this magical place in 2016.

Financial investment:

I felt really inspired by the concept of Gift Economy when i recently viewed my teacher Uma talking about it (Link here!) and I decided to run on this basis. I am offering this retreat from my heart to yours because I want to share this place, and the teachings I have been passed. Sebastian is offering his time, and sharing his passion for creating nourishing food on the same basis. The amount you see is a cost- covering amount that we need to ask to cover our basics ie accommodation, room hire, wood for the fires, food, teacher travel expenses. Our teachings and the time we take to prepare and serve the food, to plan and carry out the retreat, we offer as a gift. At the end of the retreat (or before!) if you wish to, based on what you feel in your heart was the value of what you have been gifted, you can add a gift amount for these additional offerings. For most people the easiest way to do this would be financial but we are also open to that being a gift of your skills, or similar. This is completely up to you to decide based on how you feel you value what has been offered to you. We aren’t putting a price tag or any expectation or hidden agenda on this.

The pictures of Chyan were taken on my recent mini-retreat there. Just two nights there was enough to fill my cup to overflowing! It is a community where some people live , year- round in yurts, converted buses , shepherd huts and caravans. It is also the home of Swamp Circus. It hosts the annual Surya yoga camp in May , and year round events from Circus camps to dance and eco gatherings. It is a truly inspiring place to spend time. The showers are mainly solar powered but there is also a top up supply so we will never run out of hot water! The water drainage is into a specially designed green pond. The toilets are compost toilets, fully respecting the land as our waste is then offered back to nourish the soil!

The spaces there are really beautiful , we have one for yoga and meditation ( Sky Space: shown below) and one for gathering, eating and our movement session. ( Apple Barn shown above) There are also amazing outdoor spaces that we will use if the weather is dry. You can take a walk around the land at any time, immerse yourself in nature, paddle in a river, wander through an orchard, pick herbs, climb the rocks or dance in the grassy clearings.

For the rest of June, plus July and August, my class teaching schedule is a little quieter while i teach and offer massage at various yoga camps. This means I am able to offer 1:1 yoga sessions at a discounted rate: £10 off the normal price!

Just £25 for an hour of carefully tailored yoga just for YOU! We can look at a particular area such as flexibility, strength, postnatal pelvic floor issues , pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy; areas that may not be covered in depth in a general class.

Booking a 1:1 really boosts your motivation , compared to turning up to a class ( we all do that, shall i go to class tonight? Hmmm maybe i dont feel like it…not when you have your own session booked!)

It allows you to safely work at a pace that is right for you, with a teacher to observe how your body is responding and offer sensitive, intuitive adjustments and physical assists where appropriate.

Mum and Baby yoga (for babies aged approx 3 months to fully mobile)

These courses are really popular , I believe because they offer something unique amongst all the activities available for babies these days! A combination of the Birthlight approach to gentle parenting, my massage background, and my training as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, means that I am uniquely able to guide the sessions to meet both Mums’ and babies needs.

My philosophy: You already have everything that your baby needs for optimum development: for sensory stimulation, we are beautifully designed to both stimulate our babies with our rhythmic voice, breath and movement; and to notice when they are overstimulated and provide the appropriate response! Connected and responsive parenting is at the heart of this approach. No external stimulus can possibly replace or better this! It is so joyful to see your baby’s response when you sing to them, do an action rhyme together, use yoga breathing and sounding, or move over them or with them! There are so many ways to do these things within the classes, and you will develop a toolkit of things to try at home to brighten your days together!

I have taught Mum and baby yoga for 9 years, Baby Nurture for 5 years, and I am a trainee course tutor for Birthlight (delivering the training for new teachers).

When i recieve your booking I will send out an info sheet with directions, what to bring etc .

This class is suitable for women who are around 14- 41 weeks pregnant! NO yoga experience is necessary. Pregnancy is a magical time to discover yoga; learn to feel at home and comfortable in your body and with your breath, relax deeply, feel part of a supportive circle of other women, and find both your power and your softness in this incredible pregnant body!

Click here for more info. Email me to book and an info sheet including venue details, what to bring etc will be sent to you.

I will now be teaching a hatha yoga class at X10 Fitness two nights a week.

Hatha Yoga allows you to arrive in your body, get out of your head, and to leave the class feeling great. Because this is a holistic practice, not just ‘performing’ poses but exploring the body through a felt sense , working with the breath through pranayama, and with mudra and bandha (gestures and seals in the body which transform energy), with a background of yoga philosophy; this is a practice that reaches beyond the class and into your everyday life.

I am trained with the British Wheel of Yoga (300 hour Level 4 yoga teacher training) and through Birthlight (Well Woman Yoga, postnatal yoga). I have been practicing yoga for twenty years, teaching for 8 years. I am also a massage therapist and I bring this understanding of the body into my teaching approach, using physical assists to help you feel into and relax into the poses, as and where this is welcomed.

Beginners are welcome -it is not specifically a beginners class but if you are happy to go at your own pace I can suggest adaptions where needed. Please contact me beforehand for a chat if this feels helpful. jess@jaimaayoga.co.uk

Wednesdays need to be booked through X10 fitness, Fridays you can just turn up. More info HERE